


All Night Long

by daydreamsonacloudyday



Series: Isabel Cousland [20]
Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age: Origins
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-06-07
Updated: 2014-06-07
Packaged: 2018-02-03 18:44:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 939
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1754433
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/daydreamsonacloudyday/pseuds/daydreamsonacloudyday
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Isabel is afraid of a spider.</p>
            </blockquote>





	All Night Long

The queen’s screams echoed throughout the palace, no doubt waking up half of Denerim. Alistair ran to their bedroom, coming upon a group of guards that had already beaten him there. When they noticed his arrival, they parted from the doorway, allowing him to get inside the room. Upon seeing that his wife was in no immediate danger, he relaxed, letting out a sigh of relief.

Isabel was standing on their bed, barefoot and clad only in her nightgown, his sword tightly gripped between her hands. She was hyperventilating, shakily pointing the weapon at her vanity across the room.

"Isabel?" he said softly, cautiously approaching her. "What’s wrong, love?"

She tore her panicked gaze away from the vanity and focused on him, blinking back tears. “I was g-going to take d-down my hair and I saw a s-spider crawl on the m-mirror,” she stammered, her lower lip trembling.

Alistair kicked off his boots and climbed onto the bed with her, prying the sword out of her hands before she hurt herself. He gestured for the guards to come inside, giving them orders to find the spider before his wife passed out. “We’ll find the spider and we’ll kill it,” he whispered, pulling her into his embrace. She nodded, sniffling, as she buried her face in the crook of his neck, her fingers curling into his shirt as she clung to him.

The guards searched for the spider, but couldn’t find it, even when they started pushing around the furniture to check behind it. It had seemingly crawled off to whatever hole it came from, and this did not please Isabel one bit.

"I’m sorry, your Majesties, but the spider has disappeared," one of the guards said, maintaining a safe distance from the queen.

"No!" she whined. "You have to find it!"

"I’m sorry, your Majesty, but I doubt that will be possible," the guard replied.

"You had better make it possible," she snapped, shooting the guard a glare that made him shrink back in fear.

Alistair held her firmly to his side, giving the guards an apologetic look. “The queen thanks you and understands that you have done your best,” he said to the guards, dismissing them. When they were gone, he coaxed Isabel off the bed, and she shoved his sword back into his hand, dragging him over to the vanity. Her fingers painfully dug into his forearm as she peeked over the furniture, making sure the spider was really gone.

"Izzy?"

She turned to face him, eyes wide in fear. “What if it comes back while we sleep?” she said, her voice trembling.

"It’s not going to come back—"

"You don’t know that," she interrupted, stomping back over to plop down on the bed. She huffed, starting to take down her hair, and he sighed, grabbing her brush from the vanity and sitting behind her. He went to brush through her hair, but she looked over her shoulder, leering at him. "Did you make sure the vile little creature isn’t on the brush?"

Alistair glared at her and she snorted, turning back around. He brushed through her unruly waves while she stared down the vanity, just waiting for the spider to reappear. When he finished, he changed out of his finery and she sat back on the bed with her arms crossed.

"I’m not going to sleep," Isabel declared. "I can’t. I won’t. Not until that evil little thing is dead."

"You can’t stay awake all night long," Alistair said, blowing out the candles and climbing into bed with her.

"Watch me," she replied, stubbornly holding her head high.

He made himself comfortable, rolling over and tucking the blankets around himself. “I’m going to sleep,” he muttered. “I’m tired and we have an early meeting in the morning.”

Isabel was quiet longer than he predicted she’d be, until she finally shuffled over to his back. She rested her head over his shoulder, her short, anxious breaths tickling his neck.

"Ali?" she whispered, and he turned towards her, looking up at her expectantly in the dim light. "Please don’t go to sleep… not yet."

"I can’t stay awake all night, love," he said quietly. "I can try, but I doubt I’d make it half an hour."

"I know, it’s just…" she said, sighing. "Will you hold me?"

"Of course." As soon as the words left his mouth, she burrowed into his side, tangling her limbs with his. He held her tight, cocooning her in his warmth and comfort the way he knew she liked. It was then that he felt her shaking, and he pressed a kiss to the top of her head as he tried to soothe her.

Alistair knew her overreaction wasn’t about the little spider that had invaded their room. She was already afraid of spiders when he’d met her, and their trip into the Deep Roads only amplified that. He supposed being pounced on, poisoned, and almost eaten by an overgrown, tainted spider would make  _anyone_  petrified of spiders—forget about someone who was already terrified of them.

He remembered the aftermath of it all too well; the blood gushing from her wound as she passed out in his arms, how pale and  _freezing_  she was from the poison… how he had to warm her up, holding her like he did now, unsure if she was going to survive the night.

He pushed those memories away, instead focusing on the moment he was in now—contently cuddled up with his wife. Being king wasn’t exactly where he thought he’d end up, but he had his queen,  _his Izzy_ … and that made everything worth it. 


End file.
